Exploring the Potentials of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) for Zero-waste Construction in Akure Nigeria

Construction and demolition wastes (CDW) pose serious challenges to the environment and as such creates so much concern in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. The challenges and impacts of construction in AEC activities are obviously avoidable. Practitioners in the industry have been slow to recognize that modern methods of construction (MMC) such as the use of Industrialized Building System (IBS) have the potentials to minimize wastes on job sites compared to the traditional methods of construction which are pointedly wasteful. This study reports a survey conducted in two residential estates where Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) – an Industrialized Building System (IBS) and conventional building materials and techniques were used. Stratified random sampling was adopted because of the different types of housing units within the two selected housing estates. It was found that the Industrial prefabrication of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) wall panels, floor ribs, blocks and fascias enables components to be produced to exact specification thus significantly reducing waste on job sites. Also, the light weight nature of EPS facilitates easier handling and reduces labour and saves time for the installation. The study therefore seeks for the adoption of prefabricated building components such as standardized EPS as a modern methods of construction (MMC) in Nigeria